[mikeomoto]

You don't have a job yet, so you don't actually know what being a programmer is like. You're stressing out about what you think being a programmer is like, and worse, you're stressing out about what you think how a programmer is hired.

Sit back, relax, go talk to someone who actually does the job, and re-evaluate once you're better contextualized.

[abledon]

Yeah like I said in another thread, CTCI is for more of a software __engineering__ role. There are lots of really easy software developement jobs where you ain’t doing algorithmic/dataatructures, just chilling with other code monkeys , humming Katy perry tunes and stackoverflow searching 4 hrs a day, the rest is breaks and hn reading

[donquichotte]

> the rest is breaks and hn reading

and, of course, writing HN comments.

[codeisawesome]

A candidate displaying the attitude shown in this post would not pass the culture fit round if the company needs team players.

[cryoshon]

the joke is (probably) on you: most people know not to mention these things in a job interview, but expect to enter a team with like-minded individuals upon hiring.

employers can't screen for it because there's no paper trail.

[ewiewi]

"Code monkeys" feels pretty derogatory when talking about people just doing the job they are paid for.

It's especially unnecessary in a thread like this one where OP is doubting his skills and choices, and looking for help/direction.

[pure-awesome]

I think the way that abledon used it here is fine. He wasn't saying "everyone else is a code monkey", he was saying "we are all code monkeys" himself included.

In this context, it might actually help OP to relax a bit - the message is "Don't worry, you don't have to be a programming contest winner in order to work as a programmer. Many programming jobs are much lower stress and lower cognitive load than that", and abledon's description certainly matches my own programming job more than, e.g. what was described in the other "What was it like to be a software engineer at NeXT?" post on HN.

[EADGBE]

Exactly. You must ask yourself what you want from this. If it's a secure-ish job, good pay, and relatively low-stress it's pretty easy to find.

If it's The Social Network style code-bro'ing, coding the cure to cancer, etc; well that's pretty easy to find too.

[MaxBarraclough]

At the risk of mirroring pure-awesome's comment: we could say the use of the word 'just' is derogatory, but it doesn't make sense to deny the distinction it draws.

There's a difference between a mechanical engineer, and a car technician. There's a difference between serious algorithmic work, and code-monkey work. One is more demanding than the other.

[Tmp1234]

This doesn't sound half bad. How can I find these?